Effects of an Artificial Diet and Varied Environmental Conditions on Longevity ofCoeloides pissodis(Hymenoptera: Braconidae), a Parasitoid ofDendroctonus frontalis(Coleoptera: Scolytidae)

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Previous work with parasitoids of the southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmermann, indicated that artificial diet could increase parasitoid longevity under constant, climatically moderate laboratory conditions. This study investigates the impact of the same artificial diet on parasitoid longevity under more extreme climatic conditions in an effort to determine longevity under conditions approximating those in southern pine forests. Coeloides pissodis (Ashmead), a common parasitoid of D. frontalis, was reared from field-collected D. frontalis-infested pine bark and used to test the effects of the artificial diet on adult longevity under 6 temperature–humidity settings. Parasitoid adults were provided with water only, or water plus diet and placed in environmental chambers set to 18, 24, or 30°C and either high (80%) or low (30%) relative humidity, and longevity was recorded and compared. Across all treatments, relative humidity appeared to have a greater impact on longevity than temperature or availability of diet, although diet significantly increased longevity under high humidity conditions.

This publication has 23 references indexed in Scilit: